Kusi, Abbie Zanders, Alley Ciz, Anna Blakely, Anna Brooks, Becca Steele, Cora Kenborn, Darcy Burke, Elizabeth SaFleur, Emery Rose, Greer Bailey, Ivy Layne, J. Kenner, Jeana E. Mann, Jennifer Woodhull, Joslyn Westbrook, Kailee Samuels, Kait Nolan, Lexi C. Foss, Lisa Suzanne, Lynne St. James, Maria Luis, P.J. Fiala., Rebecca Sharp, Riley Edwards, S.E. Rose, Saffron A. Kent, Samantha Lind, Susan Stoker, Taylor Danae Colbert.

    These intimate portraits of people and relationships scour and soothe and blast a light on the nature of family, faith, forgiveness, consumption, and what we may, or may not, owe one another. A thirteen-year-old meditates on her sadness and the difference between herself and her white best friend when an unexpected tragedy occurs; a woman recovering from a miscarriage finds herself unable to let go of her daughter—whose body parts she sees throughout her daily life; a teenager resists her family’s church and is accused of courting the devil; servers at a supper club cater to the insatiable cravings of their wealthy clientele; and two estranged siblings take a road-trip with their father’s ashes and are forced to face the troubling reality of how he continues to shape them.Wise and subversive, spiritual and seductive, Milk Blood Heat forms an ouroboros of stories that bewitch with their truth.

    Illustrated with Adam de Souza’s brooding art, this book’s style is a totally original blend of nineteenth-century Gothic engravings meets moody film noir graphic novels. Headlined by the Korean tale of a carnivorous child, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is a truly thrilling gift for brave young readers.

    Featuring six marvellous mini-mysteries, including four original, brand-new and never-seen-before stories:The Case of the Second Scream: set aboard the ship carrying Daisy and Hazel back from Hong KongThe Case of the Uninvited Guest: Uncle Felix and Aunt Lucy's wedding is the target for an unlikely threatThe Hound of Weston School: the Junior Pinkertons investigate a mysterious arrival The Case of the Deadly Flat: introducing Hazel's little sister May, who's determined to be the greatest spy everThe Case of the Missing Treasure: the detectives crack fiendish codes to catch a daring thief who is targeting London's famous museumsThe Case of the Drowned Pearl: murder follows the Detective Society wherever they go, even on holiday... The perfect book for all Detective Society fans and avid readers of the Murder Most Unladylike series.Praise for Murder Most Unladylike'Ripping good fun' The Times'Plotting is what sets this book apart' Telegraph'Enormous fun' Irish Times 'A skilful blend of golden era crime novel and boarding school romp . . . Top class' Financial Times 'I absolutely loved it' Susie Day

    One party. Nine Happily Ever Afters. It’s Christmas Eve in New York City, when anything is possible. For these couples, it’s the season to find true love. From second-chances, big leaps, missed connections, and reconnections, this charming collection celebrates the spirit of the holidays and delivers nine perfect HEAs. From seven acclaimed and bestselling Latina authors—Zoey Castile, Alexis Daria, Adriana Herrera, Diana Muñoz Stewart, Priscilla Oliveras, Sabrina Sol, and Mia Sosa—comes a holiday romance collection like never before. Make the Yuletide Gay • Adriana Herrera After a string of broken engagements, an international Latin Pop Star finds love in her sexy and constant manager. Days before her big live holiday special, Vivi wonders if the woman of her dreams could finally be hers.Only Yours • Sabrina Sol​​The Mayor of New York embarks on a Christmas Eve search to find the woman he loves before she gets away. Meet Me Under the Mistletoe • by Priscilla OliverasChallenged by his friends to find a plus one to Nochebuena dinner or else, widower Hector Gutierrez isn’t sure he’s still got any good moves left. That is until he strikes the right chord with his son’s music teacher, Cristina.All I Want for Nochebuena • Alexis DariaWhen sparks fly between adult film stars Honey and Julie, Honey must work up the courage to invite Julie to her family’s holiday party or risk losing what she really wants for Nochebuena—a chance at true love.Santa’s Eager Little Helper • by Mia SosaSarita’s plan to confess her crush on a coworker goes awry when she’s tasked with playing the Sexy Elf to his grumpy Santa. Will she seize the opportunity to make Carlos’s naughty list, or will she spend another Nochebuena alone?The Nochebuena Dating Dare • by Diana Muñoz StewartEneida Lucero takes a second chance on love with the handsome musical director at her school—even if it means causing some Nochebuena drama with her ex-husband and familia. Love in Spanglish • Zoey CastileA heartbroken romance writer gets snowed in with a novel-worthy hero who may just make her believe in love again. To Us, You Are Perfect • Alexis Daria & Adriana HerreraNewlyweds Pasquale and Yamilette’s Christmas is just short of perfect. The missing piece is their best friend Marcelo, who has loved them from afar for years. This Nochebuena, they’ll finally complete their happily ever after.The Great Holiday Escape • Zoey CastileGigi is always on the hustle, making sure her little sister has everything she needs including a big Christmas Eve fiesta with all their friends and family. That night, Gigi receives an all-expenses paid trip to a luxe South Beach weekend where not one, but two beautiful strangers steal her heart.

    Carnival. Rum and coke. To many outsiders, these idyllic images represent the supposed easy life in Caribbean nations such as Trinidad and Tobago. However, the reality is far different for those who live there—a society where poverty and patriarchy savagely rule, and where love and revenge often go hand in hand.Written in a combination of English and Trinidad Creole, Pleasantview reveals the dark side of the Caribbean dream. In this novel-in-stories about a fictional town in Trinidad, we meet a political candidate who sets out to slaughter endangered turtles for fun, while his rival candidate beats his “outside-woman,” so badly she ends up losing their baby. On the night of a political rally, the abused woman exacts a very public revenge, the trajectory of which echoes through Pleasantview, ending with one boy introducing another boy to a gun and to an ideology which will help him aim the weapon.Merging the beauty and brutality of Trinidadian culture evoked by writers such as Ingrid Persaud and Claire Adam with the linguistic experimentation of Marlon James’s A Brief History of Seven Killings, Pleasantview is a landmark work from an important new voice in international literary fiction.

    These stories will bury you in the rubble of an earthquake, pull back the veil on a soul's journey into the afterlife, and turn a small Midwestern town into the secret domain of cross-dimensional gods.Combining old-school horror with the modern weird, Philip Fracassi will take you places you've never been before, and show you sights you won't soon forget. The supernatural intrudes upon a wedding; a pier becomes the site of tragedy; a collapsed building is only the start of the nightmare for those trapped in the ruins; a scientist who makes the discovery of a lifetime, only to find out that what he's unearthed has dire consequences not only for himself, but for all of mankind.

    In her long-awaited debut story collection, dark, lush, and spellbinding short fiction you will find unexpected detours, dangerous magic, and even more dangerous women.Briar, bodyguard for a body-stealing sorceress, discovers her love for Rose, whose true soul emerges only once a week. An apprentice witch seeks her freedom through betrayal, the bones of the innocent, and a meticulously-plotted spell. In a world powered by crystal skulls, a warrior returns to save China from invasion by her jealous ex. A princess runs away from an arranged marriage, finding family in a strange troupe of traveling actors at the border of the kingdom’s deep, dark woods.Concluding with a gorgeous full-length novella, Marjorie Liu’s first short fiction collection is an unflinching sojourn into her thorny tales of love, revenge, and new beginnings.Sympathy for the bones --The briar and the rose --The light and the fury --The last dignity of man --Where the heart lives --After the blood --Tangleroot palace

    Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand and more. A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and readers. This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, will bring together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson. Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Cassandra Khaw, Karen Heuler, Benjamin Percy, John Langan, Laird Barron, M. Rickert, Seanan McGuire, and Genevieve Valentine.

    Tense and terrifying, these masterful stories by Eric LaRocca explore the shadow side of love.Contents:You Follow Wherever They Go.Bodies Are for Burning.The Strange Thing We Become.The Trees Grew Because I Bled There.You’re Not Supposed to Be Here.Where Flames Burned Emerald as Grass.I’ll Be Gone by Then.Please Leave or I’m Going to Hurt You.

    That’s the idea behind Paranormal Women’s Fiction, where you’ll find women of a certain age kicking ass. These are powerful creatures who know what they want, who they are, and won’t let anything get in their way—not exes or demons, hot flashes, crow’s feet or crime. Dive into this selection of stories from some of today’s best-selling PWF authors (listed in alphabetical order).Lucía Ashta - Smexy Shenanigans (A Witches of Gales Haven Novella)Luanne and Shawna head out of Gales Haven for the day, expecting to drink a little too much and dance the night away. What they don’t expect is to unearth secrets they believed long buried. Secrets that mean a whole new kind of trouble for the Gawama witches.Morgana Best - Sixty, Sassy, and Sleuthing (Colt Calling Horse Rescue Mysteries Prequel)The world is determined to put 60-year-old Cally Colt out to pasture, but she's no one-trick pony. When she’s suspected of murder, Cally must clear her name, keep a horse rescue financially stable, and stay alive. Will she do it, or is she on a foal's errand?Annabel Chase - Wet My Plants (The Bloomin’ Psychic)During an overnight visit to a historic house, Mia discovers she isn’t the only thing that goes bump in the night.Renee George - The Importance of Being GillyMidlife dating is all fun and games until someone falls into the flambé and catches on fire... When Nora Black's BFF Gilly Martin requests her help, Nora agrees to employ her psychic nose for the good of her bestie's future.Colleen Helme - License to Steal (A Shelby Nichols Novella)A PI license, a stolen figurine, and the sinister plot behind it... another day for mind-reader, Shelby Nichols, that could be deadly.Shéa MacLeod - Some Enchanted Reading (A Season of the Witch Novella)One unexpected tarot reading, one enchantment gone awry, and one very befuddled witch in dire need of a cocktail.HP Mallory & JR Rain - Black Cat Cocktail Club (A Haven Hollow Story)While brewing potions and boozing with the other ladies of Haven Hollow, Poppy accidentally knocks two potions onto Wanda’s familiar, Hellcat, who immediately vanishes! Soon it becomes a mad dash to find Hellcat in order to reverse whatever magic Poppy inadvertently subjected him to.Rebecca Regnier - Rock of Mages (A Widow’s Bay Short Story)The newest neighborhood in Widow's Bay is an HGTV addict's dream! But while the floorplans may be open concept a curse is closing in. Only the empty nest coven can save the sinking shiplap!Christine Zane Thomas - Midlife MatchmakingAfter exhausting all the dating apps available, Lauren Whittaker tries a spell. Surely, her dating life can't get any worse. But magic always has a way of complicating things.Nancy Warren - Bleeding Between the Lines (The Vampire Book Club Prequel)Seattle witch Quinn Callahan knew she wasn’t supposed to mess with death. Now, the Grim Reaper’s turned up at her book club and he’s not there for the gossip and the cheese plate.Louisa West - You Look ‘Familiar’ (A Midlife in Mosswood Novella)One near-miss with a kangaroo and vet Veronica’s highschool sweetheart has bounced back into her life. Is this her chance to reconnect with the one that got away, or will he skip town for good and take his strange secret with him?Deborah Wilde - A Deader Shade of Pale (A Magic After Midlife Short)Miriam Feldman had high hopes for her big date, but a body count wasn’t one of them. Now it’s up to her and a grumpy French wolf shifter to hunt the possessed man down before anyone gets hurt.

    Threaded with magic, transcending time and place, these stories explore what it means to cross borders and break down walls, personally and politically. In one story, suburban families perform oblations to cattlelike angels who live on their roofs, believing that their “thoughts and prayers” will protect them from the world’s violence. In another, inhabitants of an unnamed dictatorship slowly lose their own agency as pieces of their bodies go missing and, with them, the essential rights that those appendages serve. “The Great Escape” tells of an old woman who hides away in her apartment, reliving the past among beautiful objects she’s hoarded, refusing all visitors, until she disappears completely. In the title story, children begin to levitate, flying away from their parents and their home country, leading them to eat rocks in order to stay grounded. With elements of science fiction and fantasy, fabulism and magical realism, Brenda Peynado uses her stories to reflect our flawed world, and the incredible, terrifying, and marvelous nature of humanity.

    They have now been collated into this romantic collection of modern love stories.Includes:The Forbidden Christmas Gift:It’s Christmas at Shaw’s Department store in Edinburgh! Reid Shaw should feel nothing but gratified by his success. But he’s not satisfied because the sexy Scot wants forbidden fruit for Christmas: Evan Munro. Reid’s Evan’s boss. He’s thirteen years older than her. Oh … and she’s his best friend’s little sister. New Year's Eve:After Ryan drunkenly kisses the object of her crush, Joe—her sister’s father-in-law— at his son’s birthday party, all she wants to do is avoid Joe for the rest of eternity. But when they find themselves stranded alone together on New Year’s Eve, Ryan discovers Joe most definitely doesn’t want to avoid Ryan…Loving Valentine:Micah Green has loved Valentine Fairchild for over ten years; ever since they were kids brought together by Micah's difficult family life. Too many outside factors have gotten in their way, pushing them further apart over the years. But Micah, no matter how hard he tries, can't forget her. When he finds a way to see her again, he realizes he's wasted too much time loving Valentine from afar. Now he just has to convince her to let go of their past so they can move on with their future. Together.Ember in the Heart:When Ember Bonet overhears her sister’s fiancé’s best friend uttering rude remarks about the Bonet sisters at the engagement party, she instantly dismisses him as a pretentious man-child. Then said man-child, Foster Darwin, moves into the house next door along with his five-year-old daughter, making him hard to ignore.Foster can’t believe his best friend, Colt, omitted to tell him the spinsterish Bonet sisters live in the house next door to his new home. Problem is, Ember Bonet is anything but spinsterish. From the moment they met, Foster has fought an overwhelming attraction to her. An attraction he has no time for. Not only is he determined to prioritize his daughter Georgie, he can’t fail his own father again. And Edward Darwin has made it clear that Foster must settle down with the right woman. Unfortunately, his family’s idea of ‘right’ isn’t the sexy massage therapist next door who’s eleven years his senior. Determined to keep her distance from Foster, Ember fails when it becomes clear he and Georgie need support in their new life together. But proximity to one another is too great a temptation, and physical chemistry soon turns into so much more. If only Ember could get over their age difference and Foster his family pride…

    Superstitions thrive even in the distant future and across the stars when a colony shuttle mounts a witch trial in “Hairy Jack.” And try to “Forgive the Adoring Beast” as it scavenges a world of dead gods for tokens of bloody affection. Including two new short stories and a never-before-published novelette, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy digs deep inside and clings to the beating nightmare heart you always knew was there.

    A woman who receives calls over her cell phone from people who have recently died. A man who suddenly finds strange objects appearing in his life—and just as suddenly disappearing.These characters and more fill the pages of Sharon Shinn’s collection of seven short stories. Romance, mystery, and a little bit of magic follow each of them as they grapple with the past so they can move forward into the future.Chief Executed Officers is never before published. The other six stories have appeared previously in anthologies published 2004 through 2012.The Sorcerer's AssassinIn the House of Seven SpiritsChief Executed OfficersThe Unrhymed Couplets of the UniverseCan You Hear Me Now?The Double-Edged SwordWintermoon Wish

    What One Wouldn't Do for...What?Power? Safety? Love? Revenge?Here's to the lengths one might go to for everything.

    With works by Francisco X. Stork, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, David Bowles, Rubén Degollado, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Diana López, Xavier Garza, Trinidad Gonzales, Alex Temblador, Aida Salazar, Lupe Ruiz-Flores, Sylvia Sanchez Garza, Dominic Carrillo, Angela Cervantes, Carolyn Dee Flores, René Saldaña Jr., Laura Perez, Justine Narro, Daniel García Ordáz, and Anna Meriano.In this mixed-media collection of short stories, personal essays, poetry, and comics, this celebrated group of authors share the borders they have crossed, the struggles they have pushed through, and the two cultures they continue to navigate as Mexican American. Living Beyond Borders is at once an eye-opening, heart-wrenching, and hopeful love letter from the Mexican American community to today’s young readers.

    He listens for the knock of the Coblynau, certain they will come for him... soon, just like they did to warn of the Aberfan disaster.Author Catherine McCarthy’s second collection invites the reader on a regional journey, evoking a sense of quiet horror from the cosmic to the Gothic.

    . .What we eat can fill us up, satisfy our needs or leave us hungry for more. It connects us to our culture, defines our routines and flavours our fondest memories.Whole stories are made across a dinner table, and in What She’s Having, sixteen writers explore the complex and meaningful relationships that women have with the food we cook, eat and share.From an essay about elaborate meals for one, an ode to eating with your hands, a story about the love to be found in a plateful of pasta, and a tale exploring the darker side of what we crave: this is a collection that explores food and all its nuances – and celebrates each and every mouthful.For anyone who loves reading what women have to say about food, this collection of fiction, non-fiction and poetry is something to savour.

    A roaring nighttime thunderstorm, the first day of preschool, and a doctor's visit, in turn, encourage young readers to forge their own paths of strength in times of distress. Illustrated in rich, emotional scenes that depict vignettes of daily life, this book provides comfort and empowerment for resilience and resolution.

    The heady mix of human depravity, humour, satire, tragedy, revenge and drama makes these stories an essential cocktail of emotions.Review:“Breezy, Flippant, Poignant... Tales of pleasurable wickedness.”-Salil Desai, author of Inspector Saralkar Mystery Series“Although not all sugar and sunshine, Dalvi's voice is an important one, because he chooses to tell stories that others would normally shy away from. There's a serene resignation in his tales, one that is completely devoid of both hope as well as regret. I thoroughly enjoyed the stories.”-Bhaskar Chattopadhyay, author of Patang, Penumbra, Here Falls the Shadow, The Disappearance of Sally Sequeira and Best Served Cold“Gripping short-stories by Rafaa Dalvi. I am both intrigued and scared by his plot-twists. Thrilled to have read this book.”-Sanhita Baruah, author of The Art of Letting Go and The Art of Healing“Some of the best stories I have read so far. Rafaa has a gift of telling complex stories in a very intuitive and straightforward and are easy to read. This book is the best thing that has come out during these current circumstances.”-S. G. Kabe, author of Everything is Normal“Rafaa Dalvi is a flash fiction expert.”-T.F. Carthick, author of Carthick’s Unfairy Tales and More Unfairy Tales“Taut, propulsive and riveting, Rafaa’s mesmerising stories pack a big punch. Chasing Nirvana has been carefully crafted for maximum impact. A highly compelling read.”-Vivek Banerjee, author of ‘The Long Road’ and ‘The Other Side’

    The collection contains fifteen stories, which range from The Holiday, in which a wife surprises her husband of twenty-five years with a holiday full of Mediterranean sunshine, red rocks and blue seas in an effort to rekindle the romance they had before children; The Eye of Love, which takes the reader to a village by the sea where old flames meet again; and A Place Like Home, where a lonely young woman goes to recuperate in the Scottish countryside after a brief illness. The fruit orchards and fresh sea air offer much needed respite--but not as much as the handsome, mysterious farmer she meets.Each unforgettable story is the perfect slice of romance written with warmth and passion featuring wonderfully memorable, smart, and feisty female characters that will transport the reader to another time and place.

    Stories like Unmasked and Never Stop Asking will touch your heart while others like Glory Days, Puppy Love and Swipe Right will make you smile. Enjoy stories by: James J. Cudney, Jeff Homberger, Julie Morrall, Didi Oviatt, Kaitlyn Sutey and Barbara Venkataraman. This short book will lift your spirits and brighten your day, any day of the year.

    Wise, the acclaimed author of Wendy, Darling, comes a brand new collection of horror stories, The Ghost Sequences."A haunting is a moment of trauma, infinitely repeated. It extends forward and backward in time. It is the hole grief makes. It is a house built by memory in-between your skin and bones."A lush and elegant collection of tales—many having appeared in various "Best Of..." anthologies—teeming with frightful and tragic events, yet profoundly and intimately human. These chilling tales will engross and enthrall.For readers of Kelly Link, Carmen Maria Machado, and Angela Carter, this is a must have collection of ghostly tales set to deliver a frisson of terror and glee.

    Using fiction inspired by found material and real-life events, Variations explores the history of transgender Britain with lyrical, acerbic wit. Variations travels from Oscar Wilde's London to austerity-era Belfast via inter-war Cardiff, a drag bar in Liverpool just after the decriminalisation of homosexuality, Manchester's protests against Clause 28, and Brighton in the 2000s. Through diary entries of an illicit love affair, an oral history of a contemporary political collective; a 1920s academic paper to a 1990s film script; a 1950s memoir to a series of 2014 blog posts, Jacques rewrites and reinvigorates a history so often relegated to stale police records and sensationalist news headlines. Innovative and fresh, Variations is a bold and beautiful book of stories unheard; until now.

    Lighthouse dwellers, Boy Scouts, queer church camp leaders, love-sick and sick-sick writers, nine-year-old hunters, art-eaters—each must navigate the swamp of their own morality while living on land that is always slowly (and sometimes very quickly) killing them.“The Pump is populated with the kind of tough, awkward, dark, and tender characters you often find trapped in small town, no-place Canada. You’ll also find beavers, salt domes, a lighthouse, marshes, more beavers, a Mercury Villager, mosquitoes, and the rest of the beavers. Brooman has woven an inescapable, ferocious dream of a book. Good luck getting out.”—John Elizabeth Stintzi, author of Vanishing Monuments“Bristling with magic, horror, and romance, Sydney Warner Brooman’s The Pump transforms small-town Southern Ontario into a place of violence and sacrifice — or maybe presents it as it truly is. Like nothing I’ve ever read before, these killer beavers, strange diseases, and infectious waters wouldn’t leave my head and drew me back to their world again and again. If only I blurbed delightfully weird books like this for the rest of my life, I’d be happy.”—Jess Taylor, Author of Pauls and Just Pervs“This is the Southern Ontario that we don’t openly acknowledge but that scrapes at the back of our memories. The Pump shows us the surreal violence of living in the 401’s sprawl and the staggering beauty of the nature that surrounds it. Don’t be fooled by the nightmarish quality of these stories: they are as real as the Mercury Villager that Sydney Warner Brooman drives us in on. This is horror in broad daylight. These are the living ghosts that haunt so many of us who grew up here.”— Jia Qing Wilson-Yang, Lambda Award-winning author of Small Beauty“This is what small-town Ontario looks like when David Attenborough is a distant memory, when social structures are as polluted as the water, when myth has returned—big time—in mounting waves, sweeping our smaller stories out to sea. I don’t what is more terrifying: that The Pump exists, or that here, in this wretched, sinking place, you can find something that you desperately love, something that you want to survive. The Pump is an astonishing debut collection from a writer who is just warming up.”—Tom Cull, author of Bad Animals

    Filmmaker and writer Anungla Zoe Longkumer brings together, for the first time, a remarkable set of stories, poems, first-person narratives, and visuals that showcase the breadth of Naga women’s creative and literary expression. The essays are written in English, a language the Nagas—who had no tradition of written literature—made their own after the arrival of Christianity in the region during the nineteenth century. In The Many That I Am, each writer speaks of the many journeys women undertake to reclaim their pasts and understand their complex present.

    Rowling's Harry Potter—but did you know he really lived? You can learn his secrets in the bestselling Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, and now discover the Lost Stories—tales of myth, legend, and magic, previously lost to history and never before seen in print!The legendary alchemyst Nicholas Flamel and his wife, the sorceress, Perenelle, traveled the globe for centuries before they discovered the Twins of Legend, Josh and Sophie Newman. Secrets abound—and now you can discover even more of the Flamels' story in this new volume of nine stories set in the world of the internationally bestselling series.Stand with the Flamels when they find the Codex, the book that holds the secret to their immortality. Follow Machiavelli under the perilous streets of Paris. Join Scatty and her twin, Aoife, as they journey through mysterious shadowrealms. From encounters with enemies both human and inhuman to alliances forged with new characters from history, myth, and folklore, you will uncover mysteries from the past and find answers to questions remaining in the original series.The Lost Stories Collection contains never-seen-in-print stories featuring series favorites like Niccolò Machiavelli, Billy the Kid, Virginia Dare, and William Shakespeare, as well as new characters like Edgar Allan Poe and St. Nicholas.Every myth holds a grain of truth. Discover the truth now!

    A disturbing and moving collection' Chris Power, author of MothersIn Paradise Block, mould grows as thick as fur along the walls, alarms ring out at unexpected hours and none of the neighbours are quite what they seem. A little girl boils endless eggs in her family's burnt-out flat, an isolated old woman entices a new friend with gifts of cutlery and cufflinks, and a young bride grows frustrated with her unappreciative husband, the caretaker of creaking, dilapidated Paradise Block.With a haunting sense of place and a keen eye for the absurd, these thirteen surreal stories lure us into a topsy-turvy world where fleatraps are more important than babies and sales calls for luxury coffins provide a welcome distraction. Lonely residents live in close proximity while longing for connection.

    A teenage girl tries to fit in at a party held in a haunted house, with unexpected and disastrous consequences.A mother and daughter run a thriving online business selling antique dolls, while their customers get more than they bargained for. And after a stillbirth, a young woman discovers that there is something bizarre and wondrous growing inside of her. With empathy and invention, Sullivan effortlessly blends genres in stories that are by turns strange and exquisite. Already established as an award-winning writer for children and young adults, I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay marks her arrival as a captivating new voice in literary fiction.

    A stunning collection of the best in Chinese Science Fiction, from Award-Winning legends to up-and-coming talent, all translated here into English for the first time. This celebration of Chinese Science Fiction — thirteen stories, all translated for the first time into English — represents a unique exploration of the nation’s speculative fiction from the late 20th Century onwards, curated and translated by critically acclaimed writer and essayist Xueting Christine Ni.From the renowned Jiang Bo’s ‘Starship: Library' to Regina Kanyu Wang’s ‘The Tide of Moon City, and Anna Wu’s ‘Meisje met de Parel', this is a collection for all fans of great fiction.Award winners, bestsellers, screenwriters, playwrights, philosophers, university lecturers and computer programmers, these thirteen writers represent the breadth of Chinese SF, from new to old: Gu Shi, Han Song, Hao Jingfang, Nian Yu, Wang Jinkang, Zhao Haihong, Tang Fei, Ma Boyong, Anna Wu, A Que, Bao Shu, Regina Kanyu Wang and Jiang Bo.

    From Jedi in the city to Ewoks in the forest, from Wookiees to droids, in this charming collection you will find holiday feasts, ghostly apparitions, snowy adventures, and much more. Ultimately these are stories of hope in the darkest of days. Of family, found and otherwise. Of kindness. And of love. This is a holiday treasury that will be long remembered.... Complete your Star Wars collection with Star Wars: Dark LegendsStar Wars: Myths & Fables

    A collection that explores the intricacies of the human psyche, leaving you with the curious sense of dread that only gothic horror can achieve.Featuring the talent of Brad Acevedo, David Andrews, R.A. Busby, Marie Casey, Spyder Collins, Roland Garrety, Rebecca Jones-Howe, Jeremy Megargee, Nick Petrou, and Cassandra L. Thompson.

    Lewis (Glitter + Ashes, edited by dave ring)“Everquest” by Naomi Kanakia (Lightspeed, October 2020)"Portrait of Three Women with an Owl" by Gwen C. Katz (The Future Fire, February 2020)“The Ashes of Vivian Firestrike” by Kristen Koopman (Glittership, May 2020)“To Balance the Weight of Khalem” by RB Lemberg (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 2020)“Thin Red Jellies” by Lina Rather (Gigonotosaurus, February 2020)“Body, Remember” by Nicasio Andres Reed (Fireside, November 2020)“Escaping Dr. Markoff” by Gabriela Santiago (The Dark, March 2020)"The Last Good Time to Be Alive" by Waverly SM (Reckoning 4, edited by Danika Dinsmore and Arkady Martine)“Monsters Never Leave You” by Carlie St. George (Strange Horizons, June 2020)"The Wedding After The Bomb" by Brendan Williams-Childs (Catapult, April 2020)"8-Bit Free Will" by John Wiswell (Podcastle, November 2020)Our incredible cover is by Sajan Rai.

    Like all humans, these Native Americans sought to understand their place in the universe, the nature of their relationship with the divine, and the origin of the world into which their ancestors had emerged. The answers lay in their sacred stories.This is a collection of stories from nations and cultures across two continents—the Sea-Ringed World, as the Aztecs called it—from the edge of Argentina all the way up to Alaska.

    I HEAR THE CLATTERING OF THE KEYS (AND OTHER FEVER DREAMS)by Jamie StewartThis debut collection from Jamie Stewart is a collection of macabre tales where ordinary lives find themselves shattered by forces that lurk on the fringes of existence.Meet Alan Madden, who only wants to offer his son advice, even after his death; or Susie Granger, who worries for her neighbour Jane, known to everyone else as The Witch of Denison Street; or Sabina Kyle, who gets a special birthday present that - for a price - can make her dreams come true.Jamie Stewart, co-editor of Welcome to the Funhouse, presents seven nightmarish tales that peel back the skin of normality to show that insanity and horror are only a scrape away.Including:Dead AirInsularTrick or TreatThe Beach HouseAlfie and the Dead GirlsThe Woman Under the White TreeI Hear the Clattering of the Keys

    Every day is steeped in horror. An inexplicable force deep in the forest. A serpent lurking in the shadows. Or the sinister thoughts forged in the deepest abyss of a tortured mind. Lagoe offers a gamut of horrific experiences artfully woven into thirteen stories. Explore the darkness within a selfish heart, face death among ghosts, and roar into the snarling maw of a beast. Horror can be empowering if we can survive our most dismal dreams.

    A girl willing to do anything to reunite with her dead lover, mermaids that attack a town with waterspouts, a sailor who might miss his chance at love, a skeletal whale that hunts ships, and a mysterious captain who rules the dead at the bottom of the ocean.This oceanic collection spans genres, ranging from poems of love to stories that exhibit a visceral fear of what lurks in the depths.

    This bonus collection from several of the authors of Alien Embrace includes short stories, prequels, sequels, sneak peeks and scenes from alien romances and other series.If you love hot alpha aliens and steamy romances, this is the book for you!

    From a little door inside an elevator to a hellish prison for stolen children, from a terrifying future where nightfall means death to a fairy tale past in which lies and illusion enrage the ghosts all around us. The Ghosts of Who You Were collects some of Golden's finest stories, tales of bad fathers and ancient monsters, the promises of strangers, parties that never end, and a collection of Hollywood curses. Featuring the Bram Stoker Award-nominated story "The Bad Hour," The Ghosts of Who You Were is Golden's finest collection yet.

    At times she had to warn her readers that "those seeking laughter should not turn on me and tear me to pieces if, instead, they find tears - the pearls of my soul." The stories on other-worldly themes in this collection are some of Teffi's finest and most profound, displaying her acute psychological sensitivity beneath her characteristic wit and surface brilliance.Spanning nearly forty years, from stories Teffi wrote in Moscow to those from her perspective as an emigr� in Paris, Other Worlds gathers together those stories that share the theme of religious experience, both Russian Orthodox Christianity and Russian folk belief, with its often poetic understanding of spiritual matters. In an early story, "A Quiet Backwater," a laundress gives a long disquisition on the name days of the different birds, insects, and animals, as well as the Feast of the Holy Spirit, a day on which "no one dares to trouble the earth." The story "Wild Evening" is about the fear of the unknown; "The Kind that Walk," a penetrating study of anti-semitism, and of xenophobia more generally; and "Baba-Yaga," about the archetypal Russian witch and her longing for wildness and freedom. Teffi traces the persistent influence of the ancient Slavic gods in legends, superstitions, and customs, and the deep connection of the supernatural to everyday life in the Russian provinces. In "Volya," the final autobiographical story, the power and pain of Baba Yaga is Teffi's own.

    Perfect to pair with your morning coffee or binge-read while curled up with a favorite blanket on a snowy afternoon!From a stately mansion to a rough barn, from a cheerful fireside to a lonely mountain road, from a chaotic church pageant to the grim aftermath of war, no heart is without its burden. But no trouble is too deep to be touched by the light of love and the warmth of Christmas.

    From the winner of The British Fantasy AwardFrom the winner of The Bram Stoker Award* A Lahori orphanage for girls is haunted by birds and eerie visions.* Two lovers are set adrift amidst rising floodwaters in 1960s Old Lahore* A woman chaperoning a school trip to the ruins of a pre-Islamic city in Sind faces ancient horrors as boys go missing and the fog rolls in.With a meticulously designed cover and beautiful black-and-white illustrations by seven different Pakistani artists, Midnight Doorways is a unique community project highlighting the scope of speculative art and literature in Pakistan.

    

    Find your favorite new author - better yet, authors - here!Volume 1 Includes:Not In Their Nature by Scott Parkin, Abby Goldsmith, & Raphyel M. Jordan – sci-fiMy Brother's Keeper by Raphyel M. Jordan – sci-fiFires by Scott Parkin – fantasyThe Biggest Mermaid by Abby Goldsmith – fantasyLast of Her Kind by Abby Goldsmith, Raphyel M. Jordan, Scott Parkin – fantasyThe Stranger and The Mask of Plagues :A Hall of Doors Short Story (#4.1) by Zachary Chopchinski – sci-fiParcel Twist by Quincy J. Allen – sci-fiThe Butcher of Orcin: A Big Damn Heroes Origin Story by Jeffery H. Haskell – sci-fiDéjà vu by Raphyel M. Jordan, Scott Parkin, Abby Goldsmith – sci-fiValue by Catherine Schaff-Stump – fantasyMy Father's Sword by MB Mooney – fantasyThere Be Dragons by Elle Beaumont – fantasyA Pocketful of Sky by Scott Parkin, Raphyel M. Jordan, Abby Goldsmith – sci-fi/fantasy

    Krishna, Aanchal Malhotra, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Suketu Mehta, Perumal Murugan, Karthika Nair, Snigdha Poonam, Gyan Prakash, Vivek Shanbhag, Aatish Taseer, Romila Thapar, Salil Tripathi, Annie ZaidiAs India faces some of its greatest challenges, the country’s most brilliant voices write about what freedom means to them. Inspiring, searching and full of ideas – this is the book of our times.

    Some mysteries unfold as gently as a wisp of chimney smoke. Others bring the heart-thumping thrills of an end-of-summer storm. In all of them, you’ll find characters as vibrant as fall foliage and dialogue as crisp as autumn air.Join the down (but maybe not quite out), the struggling, the wicked, the forlorn, and the broken-hearted as they stumble and sometimes fall all the way down.To paraphrase Betty Davis, “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy read.”Be prepared to recognize a few of your favorite authors and to discover some new ones. Includes tales by Bev Vincent, Bethany Maines, Teresa Trent, Brandon Barrows, Stephen D. Rogers, and many more from the crime, mystery, noir, suspense, and thriller genres.Includes the following stories & poems:‘A Slice for Stanley’ © 2021 Teresa Trent‘Abscission’ © 2021 Dustin Engstrom‘An Orchid to Die For’ © 2021 Wendy Harrison‘Anathema’ © 2021 Robin Knabel‘Autumn Heat’ © 2021 Oisin Breen‘Death & Flying Saucers’ © 2021 Matthew Kresal‘Escape Velocity’ © 2021 Bev Vincent‘Every Single Funeral’ © 2021 Bethany Maines‘Golden Silence’ © 2021 V.S. Kemanis‘Hand Shadows’ © 2021 Rikki Santer‘Hope Is an Opiate’ © 2021 Bob McNeil‘Killer in a Diner’ © 2021 Nathan Squiers‘Let It Go’ © 2021 Brandon Barrows‘Misunderstood’ © 2021 Elif Offner‘Nineteen Creaks’ © 2021 Peter DiChellis‘Perdita’s Shoes’ © 2021 Kat Devitt‘Poor Insect’ © 2021 D.P. Blanchard ‘Sensing the Fall’ © 2021 Stephen D. Rogers‘Shadow Over the Hill’ © 2021 Matthew Chabin‘The Block’ © 2021 H. Dair Brown‘The Last Phone Booth’ © 2021 Lamont Turner‘The Warbler’s Song’ © 2021 Vashelle Nino‘The Weak Man’ © 2021 JM Connors‘Those Forgotten Places’ © 2021 Mary Rajotte‘To Bury Larry Little’ © 2021 W.E. WertenbergerAlso enjoy fantasy, horror, and sci-fi? Check out Unsettling Read's spring anthology, Hope Screams Eternal!••••••••••••••••••••Unsettling Reads, founded by fiction authors H. Dair Brown and Robin Knabel, offers spoiler-free reviews and recommendations on books from the Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Literary, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Suspense, and Thriller genres. And just to keep things spicy, they throw in the occasional author interview.If you're contemplating picking up Autumn Noir, you probably enjoy books that make you shudder (and maybe even think) a little. Let Dair and Robin help you decide what to read the next time you're ready to sink down into the blankets and crack open a good book.You can also find Unsettling Reads on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@unsettlingreads). That's where the truly unsettling stuff usually happens. ;)UnsettlingReads.com

    But what if the odds aren’t in your favor? We decided to change the phrase into something a little more unsettling: Hope Screams Eternal.Spring hearkens thoughts of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection, and regrowth. What happens when creative minds nurture a more sinister mindset, awakening twisted and nefarious interpretations of the season of eternal hope? Authors, poets, and artists from around the globe accepted our challenge to answer that question. Within these pages, they do their best to unsettle you as they explore the dark side of spring. The seeds of doubt they sow will burrow into your subconscious, lying in wait to hatch when you least expect it.So get cozy, settle into your comfiest seat, and relax (but don't let down your guard!) as we bring your hopes and fears to life.••••••••••••••••••••Unsettling Reads, LLC. was founded by fiction authors Robin Knabel and H. Dair Brown. Their first podcast, called (wait for it!) Unsettling Reads, was released on April Fool’s Day 2020, so that can only mean good things, right?Every other Wednesday, Robin and Dair offer their spoiler-free reviews and recommendations on books from the Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Literary, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Suspense, and Thriller genres.If you can’t get enough (or if podcasts just aren’t your thing), check out the numerous blog posts of books they've enjoyed outside of the podcast. And just to keep things spicy, they throw in the occasional author interview.If you're contemplating picking up this book, you probably enjoy books that make you check for monsters under the bed (or perhaps even in bed next to you) before you go to sleep. Let Robin and Dair help you decide what to read the next time you're ready to sink down into the “safety” of your blankets and crack open the kind of book that will make you shudder (and maybe even think) a little.★ Also - they love to interact with their readers, listeners, and fellow authors on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@unsettlingreads). That's where the truly unsettling stuff usually happens. UnsettlingReads.com

    “What a small word for such a big thing.”The broken world groans. Oh, for a beacon of light! Where is something to live for—to kindle the spark of excitement, to calm the heart, to impart love, joy, and peace—and perhaps to shine the light of God’s glory on earth as in heaven?Hope. In these twenty-two sweet stories and poems, experience the dawning of a sure, unfailing hope. Join a plethora of relatable characters young and old in their journey through the heights and depths of suffering—a cancer diagnosis, a shocking accident, the loss of a dear family member. Wrestle with the agony of a missing loved one, an unavoidable mortgage, or a tough move. Experience the ache of rejection and loneliness, misunderstanding and oppression, and illnesses both physical and mental. Yet in the midst of each heartache winds a strong, undying cord of hope—that light in the darkness, that beacon, that anchor of the soul. As you smile, cry, and sigh through each heartfelt piece, perhaps you too will grasp ahold of your own hope again.For our God is our glorious Hope.

    

    Fall in love with these butch/femme romance novellas. In An Epiphany in Flannel by Meghan O’Brien, small-town waitress Maisie Davis resolves the mystery of her sexuality after an unexpected encounter with a handsome stranger seated in the corner booth of Moe’s Fine Diner. Aiden Crane opens Maisie’s mind and body to exciting new possibilities—but can she find the courage to follow her heart?In Follow Her Lead by Aurora Rey, venture capitalist Jude Benoit is named Majesty of Artemis, New Orleans’s premier lesbian Mardi Gras parade and ball, and enlists the expertise of private dance instructor Gabriella Viard to save her from making a fool of herself. Jude can follow the steps, but what happens when Gabby challenges her to lead with her heart? In Just as You Are by Angie Williams, Dylan Fleming is a confident and capable woman in every way except the stereotypical ways her ex-girlfriend thought she should be. When her insecurities get the better of her and she fumbles on a date with beautiful auto mechanic Carrie Grice, Dylan has to let go of the past. Can she accept that she is loved just as she is?

    Each quarterly issue features established and new authors to take you through their hard-bitten worlds alongside articles, reviews and interviews. Our stories are grim, our worlds are dark and our morally grey protagonists and anti-heroes light the way with bloody stories of war, betrayal and action.FICTION:Outliers by A.M. ShineIsland of Sin by Jack MurphyThe Tesseract by Evan MarcroftThe Jewels of the Mermaids by Marisca PichetteTubes by Jeremy C. ShippGingerbread by Lindsay King-MillerNON-FICTION:Crossing the Monster by Kaaron WarrenAn Interview with Chuck WendigAn Interview with Paul TremblayThe Case for Conflict by Sadie HartmanAn Interview with Graham Masterton

    Not thinking about what might be lurking in the shadows, he soon finds out that you are never truly alone in the woods.

    Depending on the case, you may find that a retired magician, a schoolteacher, a Broadway producer, or a nun have the necessary skills to suss out a killer. Or, in other cases, a blind veteran, or a publisher, or a hard-drinking attorney, or a mostly-sober attorney… or, indeed, any sort of detective you could think of might be able to best the professionals when it comes to comprehending strange and puzzling murders. At least, that’s what the authors from the Golden Age of American mystery fiction would have you think. For decades in the middle of the twentieth century, the country’s best-selling authors produced delightful tales in which all types of eccentrics used rarified knowledge to interpret confounding clues. And for even longer, in the decades that have followed, these characters have continued to entertain new audiences with every new generation that discovers them. Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler selects some of the greatest American short stories from era. With authors including Ellery Queen, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Cornell Woolrich, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Anthony Boucher, this collection is a treat for those who know and love this celebrated period in literary history, and a great introduction to its best writers for the uninitiated.Includes discussion guide questions for use in book clubs.

    Possibly our end will come by way of an addictive cell phone game that manipulates its users into a crowd-sourced mass murder. Or perhaps our downfall involves aliens drugging us into bliss and then taking it away. Maybe it'll be technological redundancy that leaves loved ones without a purpose, or corporations replacing the natural world with creatures more amenable to market pressure.All these apocalypses and many more can be found in Erica L. Satifka's debut collection, which gathers together twenty-three short stories from the past decade.

    Listen: don’t you hear them crying out for you? Come take a peek inside the Cabinet of Wrath to find out what really happens when toys go missing and the stark decision they must make if they ever want to go home again. Discover what doll heads really think about being separated from their bodies. Follow a skull-and-bones novelty ring as it assembles a full body for itself, bit by grisly bit, and learn how loving your doll too much can lead to grave consequences. Open the door to these nine fabulist tales of toys and vengeance for a playtime you’ll never forget.

    Pauline Hopkins on alchemy and the undead. Sui Sin Far on cross-dressing. Emma Lazarus and Angelina Weld Grimké on lesbian longing. Julia Ward Howe on intersexuality. Perhaps the first of its kind,Radicals is a two-volume collection of writings by American women of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with special attention paid to the voices of Black, Indigenous, and Asian American women. In Volume 1: Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, selections span from early works like Sarah Louise Forten’s anti-slavery poem “The Grave of the Slave” (1831) and Fanny Fern’s Ruth Hall (1855), a novel about her struggle to break into the male-dominated field of journalism, to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s revenge fantasy, “When I Was a Witch” (1910) and Georgia Douglas Johnson’s poem on the fraught nature of African American motherhood, “Maternity” (1922). In between, readers will discover many vibrant and challenging lesser-known texts that are rarely collected today. Some, indeed, have been out of print for more than a century. Unique among anthologies of American literature, Radicals undoes such silences by collecting the underrepresented, the uncategorizable, the unbowed—powerful writings by American women of genius and audacity who looked toward, and wrote toward, what Charlotte Perkins Gilman called “a lifted world.”

    But sometimes it's the only word that will do. Sara Barkat is an original. Her imagination is imperious; she wields words as she pleases, in ways that delight and unsettle. In this, she reminds me of Emily Dickinson. Reading her, I expect you will agree. Don't miss the opportunity."—John Wilson, editor of Books & Culture (1995-2016)

    Anything features characters stretched to their limits: a pencil and a crayon who are best friends, a Tea-Dragon with a mischievous and mysterious habit, a terminally ill child with a lovely wish. In these pages, you’ll discover an eccentric gentleman who never stops reading, a foster boy who makes up in appetite what he lacks in conversational skills, and a single mother with a fault-finding mother-in-law and five rambunctious children who haven’t learned respect for a living room.Watch as a couple sacrificially prays for a lost and dying sister-in-law, a young lady tearfully talks her best friend through a coma, a courageous brother offers to lay down himself for others, a camera-shy teenager faces her greatest fear, and a music camp applicant struggles mightily with writing an interesting bio. Warmth, hope, and encouragement pervade the pages, echoing the theme of “anything” from a refreshing variety of angles both insightful and entertaining, spiritually profound and eternally valuable. These short pieces will delight and encourage the whole family.